cut your shirt along the seam lines – cut the sleeves off and the front panels leaving the seams on the front panels.

cut the adhesive tab off your padded envelope

stuff the large back panel of the shirt inside the envelope (make sure there’s room for the iPad – check with a book), fold over the rim of the envelope and hot fabric glue in place – about an inch down from the rim and trim the excess below the glue line.

figure out your placement for the outside of the case by placing the front panels of the shirt and folding around the bottom and sides to see what is covered. you may need to use some fabric from the sleeve to cover up one side edge.

glue your fabric panels in place leaving enough room to fold over the opening and hot glue on the inside of the envelope (onto the lining) for a clean edge. trim the excess on the inside of the envelope.

create neat folded corners by folding them like ‘military corners’ on a bed. glue in place.

cut a cuff from one of the sleeves and use it as the tab to close the envelope. glue the button hole side to the back of the envelope and attache a piece of velcro to the front under the button and on the envelope to seal.

cut your t-shirt from armpit to armpit lengthwise and cut off the bottom hem. *try to get a shirt with no side seams of only one side seam.

take the tube that is the bottom part of the shirt and cut 1″ strips (starting from one sealed end or your tube horizontally – the same direction you cut from armpit to armpit). stop cutting each strip about 1″ away from the opposite side so all the strips are still connected to one end of your tube.

pull each strip so it get’s stretched out and curls the raw edges creating a longer stretched out “string”.

gather the uncut section where all the strips are still attached (creating a loop) and secure it with another scrap of t-shirt or ribbon, leather, etc. add some bling with a brooch or button!

3. Embroidery Gift Tags

What You Need:

embroidery thread

brown paper bags

glue gun

scissors

embroidery needle

What to Do:

take off the handle on the paper bag to use later

thread the needle with your choice of color–double up for a bolder color by threading the needle and tying the two knots together

glue a piece of the handle on the top of the tag so it creates a loop to attach to the gift

sew around the perimeter of your tag with a loop stitch and finish with a knot.

4. Chalkboard Dipped Wine Glasses

What You Need:

long stem wine glasses

chalkboard paint

painters tape

foam brush

chalk

What to Do:

tape off wine glass bottom about 1/4 of the way up the stem to separate paint from the rest of the glass.

paint/dip your glass in the chalkboard paint and use the foam brush to pick up any drips off the bottom.

prop your glass up on two rolls of tape to dry so the bottom doesn’t touch while drying.

1. cut open paper bag to lay flat and make sure the printed side is against the gift

2. wrap the gift in the paper like you would with regular wrapping paper.

3. tie twine around box and accent with fresh, aromatic herbs and your DIY embroidered tag (above)!
4. optional: carve a potato and use it as a stamp to add a design to your paper bag – see more info on the potato stamp here!

The t-shirt scarf idea is crap...I tried it, step by step, and it did not work at all. Meanwhile, I wasted $50 on t-shirts at good will, thinking I could give several out as Christmas gifts. Thanks for the crappy idea.